An important deadline for legislation has passed in the Massachusetts State House. February 7th was “Joint Rule 10” Day, the day when bills are supposed to be released favorably from their initial joint committees or face dying this session.
It was a relatively good day for animals: only one of the bills we have been actively working on got sent to a study (a euphemism for killing a bill). The not-so-great news is that many bills are still in their joint committees because the committee received an extension of the reporting deadline. This means the committee gets to hold onto the bill longer. Remaining in their joint committee can be an issue because it leaves less time to work on the bill once it makes it to the House or Senate, as the end of formal session is July 31st.
Bills reported favorably from their committee include legislation to:
As of this writing, most of these bills still need to reach their next committees. Most will go to House Ways and Means or Senate Ways and Means, but we are currently waiting for their assignments.
Bills still in their joint committee and subject to extensions include legislation to:
Legislation that would give additional funding to the Massachusetts Animal Fund was sent to study, though the bill language is included in other bills that may advance this session. Thankfully, all the harmful trapping bills, as well as the bill to allow Sunday hunting, went to a study and should not advance this session.
Bills that were released before Joint Rule 10 Day and are on the move include those to:
- cut down on the use of Second Generation Anti-Coagulant Rodenticides (SGARs) – in House Ways and Means
- ban cat declawing – passed the Senate and now in House Ways and Means
You can see all our legislative updates on our website at mspca.org/currentlegislation. Don’t forget to join our Animal Action Team at mspca.org/jointheteam to hear about our events, receive action alerts, and get updates on animal issues across the Commonwealth!
